South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) is urging people to put forward their views on proposed changes to its frontline services, with just three weeks to go until the end of a 14 week public consultation.

After the consultation period ends on Monday 6 February, all responses will be collated and the Fire Authority is expected to make final decisions soon afterwards.

The public consultation document, and related business cases, can be viewed on the Service’s website, www.syfire.gov.uk

The consultation, which has included seven public meetings, is on proposals to address a Government funding cut expected to reach £10m by 2015. Members and officers stress they do not want to make changes but have no alternative due to the extent of the cuts. They have already committed to cutting management and administration costs by 25%.

Any alternative proposals will need to make at least the same level of savings due to the likely budget cut. The proposals currently out to consultation, together with other internal staffing changes, will save around £4m per year following a one-off investment of £3.65m, including two new fire stations. The proposals are:

·     A new full-time fire station near to the Sheffield Parkway, to replace Darnall and Mansfield Road fire stations (Sheffield)

·     A new full-time fire station at Birley, to improve cover in south-east Sheffield, and enable the closure of the part-time fire station at Mosborough

·     Removal of the retained duty system crews at Edlington (Doncaster) and Royston (Barnsley). Royston fire station would close

·     Removal of three countywide ‘roving pump’ fire engines that were used to support firefighter training but are no longer needed

·     Changing the firefighter crewing system at up to six existing stations, starting with Lowedges, with no effect on emergency response times. The “Close Proximity Crewing” model would save £400,000 per station, per year. If it is not possible to introduce Close Proximity Crewing, the alternative “Day Crewing” model would produce similar savings but with a negative impact on night time response times.

People can use any of the methods below to have their say before Monday 6 February 2012:

·         E-mail: serviceplan@syfire.gov.uk  

·         Post: Public consultation, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, 197 Eyre Street, Sheffield, S1 3FG

·         Twitter: @syfr  

·         Facebook: South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue